


the comfort of strangers might be better

by hazyjaem



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Injury, M/M, Neighbors, Past Character Death, Strangers, friends?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-15 07:08:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20862239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazyjaem/pseuds/hazyjaem
Summary: it’s been a year, yet jaemin still finds himself outside the all too familiar house. but he’s met with a new and unfamiliar face.





	the comfort of strangers might be better

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this at like 2am and it’s not proofread so pardon any grammar mistakes.

_it’s been a year_, jaemin thought to himself as he stood outside the all too familiar house._ get over it already_. but no matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn’t, it still hurt so bad, the memory was still so fresh in his mind, as if it had happened yesterday.

_jaemin and jisung had been walking around the park at 2 in the morning. they were laughing as if they didn’t have a care in the world, not knowing what was to come. the two eventually decided to go back home, and so, the two neighbors made their way back. the were crossing the road, jaemin a foot or two ahead of the younger boy, when suddenly, there were lights, bright ones, and there was honking, and tires screeching, and a loud noise. jaemin turned around and saw jisung suddenly laying five feet away, having flew from the impact. there was blood everywhere. the driver of the car rushed out of the car and towards the injured boy, seeing if he was still alive. he was, thank god. jaemin was suddenly pulled out of the hazy state he was in when the driver started shouting at him to call for an ambulance, and he did as told, his shaking hands dialing the number and putting the phone to his ear. the ambulance was there in a matter of minutes, taking jisung away after making sure he was alive and breathing, and also making sure jaemin and the driver were okay. jaemin watched as they loaded his best friend into the ambulance, and then he broke. he broke down in tears, crying hysterically as he fell to his knees. he screamed. he screamed and hit the ground repeatedly, he pulled his hair and then hit the ground some more, all while he was still screaming. a paramedic made their way over to calm him down, to no avail. half an hour later, when jaemin had calmed down a bit, the paramedic called a cab and helped jaemin inside, before getting in right after. they gave the driver the instruction to drive to the hospital, and off they went. as soon as they were there, jaemin jumped out of the car and into the hospital, where he ran up to the receptionist, asking where park jisung was. she looked at some files or something, jaemin doesn’t really remember that part, and then looked back at him with a apologetic face. ‘i’m sorry’, she’d said, and jaemin immediately understood what that meant. he was gone. park jisung, jaemin’s best friend, was gone, dead, no longer alive_.

jaemin took a shaky breath as he stood at the front porch, the key he had made a few years ago, in his hand. he knew this wasn’t healthy, going into your dead best friend’s house, he knew that, but he had to, he needed to, scared he’d forget the boy otherwise. jaemin put the key in the lock and turned it, but it didn’t unlock. jaemin furrowed as he tried again, the door still not opening. jaemin stood there, confused, when the door suddenly opened, and was face to face with an unfamiliar boy, who looked at him hesitantly.

‘uhm, hi, can i help you?’ the boy asked softly, hesitation obvious in his voice.

‘i, uh, i-i’m sorry, i didn’t realize someone had moved in.’ jaemin said, still in shock. the boy inside the house looked at jaemin’s unfocused eyes, his face softening upon noticing the tint of red in the others eyes.

‘would you like to come inside?’ the boy asked, a soft smile on his face. the question shocked jaemin even more, but he nodded anyways. the other boy smiled at him as he gently grabbed jaemin’s wrist, pulling him inside.

‘i’m jeno, by the way.’ the boy, jeno, introduced himself as he led jaemin into the livingroom, sitting him down on the couch before he kneeled down in front of him.

‘i-i’m jaemin.’ jaemin stuttered, mind still hazy, as it had been for the past year. jeno took in the other boy’s features. the boy was handsome, no doubt, like a “manly man”, but he looked so vulnerable and fragile, he looked small, like a lost puppy.

‘hi, jaemin. i’ll go make us some tea, okay? and then maybe you can tell me why you were trying to go inside my house, sound good?’ jeno asked softly, scared that the boy in front of him would break if he spoke any louder. jaemin just nodded at jeno, so he got up and went into the kitchen.

when jeno came back to the livingroom, jaemin hadn’t moved an inch, he was still glued to the spot on the couch, facing the wall. he looked as if he’d spaced out, so lost in his own thoughts he didn’t even notice when jeno put down the mugs on the table. it wasn’t until jeno squatted down in front of him again, rubbing his knees with his hands and speaking to him ever so softly, that jaemin noticed he was back. jaemin looked at jeno, who was looking at him with gentle eyes as he handed him a mug of tea, before getting up and sitting down beside jaemin, grabbing his own mug and taking a sip.

‘so, why did you try to get in? did you come here often before?’ jeno asked, looking at jaemin as he took another sip. jaemin was just sitting there, cup in his hands, staring at it as he spoke.

‘my best friend used to live here, and his family gave me a key so i could get in whenever i needed to.’ jaemin explained. recalling that day with a find yet bitter feeling.

‘oh, did they move?’ jeno asked innocently.

‘his parents did, yeah.’

‘what about him? where is he?’

‘he, uh, he’s dead.’ jaemin’s eyes tears up as he said it out loud for the first time since it happened. it made it feel a lot more real, and jaemin didn’t feel ready to accept that reality yet. jeno let out a soft ‘oh’ before putting his and jaemin’s mugs back on the table and pulling the other in for a hug. the move was completely unexpected by jaemin, because why would a stranger hug him? but he felt that it was better to let it out to a stranger rather than his friends or family, so he let go. he let the tears flow and he cried his poor heart out for hours. he let out heartbreaking sobs as he clung onto jeno like his life depended on it. it was weird, the only other person who had seen him in a state like this was jisung, when jaemin got his heart broken by, who he at the time thought was, the love of his life.

_jaemin was utterly heartbroken at the sight in front of him. his boyfriend, mark, was making out with someone else, someone who wasn’t jaemin. they were touching each other and giggling, grinding on each other. jaemin felt the tears welling up in his eyes. he turned around and punched through the crowd of the party, out the house. the tears fell as he made his way back home, except, he didn’t go home, he went to jisung. he knocked on the front door, and a few seconds later, jisung was in front of him, a worried expression on his face. jaemin didn’t know it was possible, but looking at jisung’s face, he cried even harder, falling into his best friends embrace, the taller boy holding him tightly, rubbing his hand over his back. after what felt like hours, jisung pulled the crying boy inside and closed the door before leading them to his room, laying them down on his bed. literal hours later, when jaemin’s crying had calmed into soft sniffles, jisung asked him what happened. jaemin explained everything to him, and jisung was boiling with anger, but right now, he had to focus on his best friend, who was once again crying into his chest._

the two boys sat like that for hours, but eventually jaemin calmed down, and fell into a deep sleep against jeno’s chest. the position was rather uncomfortable for both boys, so jeno picked the sleeping boy up bridal style, and carried him to his bedroom, tucking him into his bed. he turned around to leave, when he felt jaemin’s hand around his wrist. he turned around, looking at jaemin, who’s eyes were still closed. the boy in the bed whispered ‘please, stay’, tugging at jeno’s wrist. jeno smiled at jaemin, before whispering ‘okay’ and getting under the covers as well, jaemin immediately turning to cling onto jeno. jeno wrapped his arms around the boy protectively, before he also fell into a deep sleep.


End file.
